


a stolen moment

by b_minor



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Garden Tea Room event, M/M, brief cameos by tenn and riku, but playing fast and loose with the concept
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15108101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_minor/pseuds/b_minor
Summary: At least for tonight, they can be themselves.(Based loosely on the Garden Tea Room event.)





	a stolen moment

**Author's Note:**

> Long intro ahead because this is an AU and there is Context. 
> 
> So I'd hoped to get this done while the Garden Tea Room event was still happening but eh, life right? Here's the [ intro video ](https://twitter.com/iD7Mng_Ogami/status/999594469652496384) and [ another look at the outfits ](https://twitter.com/ichiban_CAFE/status/999834151422382080) from said event. The gist is that the boys are all (blood related?!) princes divided into four performance groups (poetry, dance, comedy, and music) to participate in a "battle royale" to determine the next king and are also all related (but not in the context of this fic)? Feel free to ask in the comments for more info!
> 
> I started this BEFORE we found out that all the boys are supposed to be siblings, so here they're all just wards who were taken in by the king to be raised as prince candidates for his successor. The ~fancy names~ like Ryuudre and Soudre are official and from the event tho! In this fic, they were given to each candidate when they arrived at the castle, and until the successor is decided they live together and are to refer to themselves and each other by those names.
> 
> ...actually for all that context this is just me indulging in RyuuSou cuddling and talking about feelings.

Outside of the comfort of the living quarters shared by the twelve wards of the King, the occasional patter of rushed footsteps towards the east indicated that preparations for tomorrow had yet to cease in spite of the late hour. 

Ryuudre and Soudre sit together in the common room, a crackling fire acting as the primary source of light. The rest of the princes had since retired one by one to their chambers. It was obvious, however, that a few would remain awake in their rooms, buzzing with anticipation for the next morning. 

After all, tomorrow was the Garden Tea Room Party, where twelve candidates would showcase their respective talents in the arts in a battle royale for the title of crown prince. 

The twins are the last to go as Tennard gently herds Rikunard to his chambers, the younger boy's soft protests undermined by a wide-mouthed yawn. As the twins pass the pair on the couch, who had until then had kept a respectable distance as they read in companionable silence, Tennard sends them a pointed look behind Rikunard’s back, mouthing at them: ‘Don’t stay up too late’. They’d both had the decency to look somewhat abashed in response. Younger as Tennard may have been, he was sharp enough to be the first to discover their relationship several months back, agreeing to keep it a secret from the others.

The moment the doors close, Ryuudre snaps his book shut. Gingerly, he draws closer to the other and meets his gaze, waiting until Soudre nods before he allows himself to mentally slip off the mantle of ‘Ryuudre, son of the king’ from his shoulders. Alone together, the two of them can just be Ryuunosuke and Sougo. 

He brings his legs up to splay himself across the couch with his head in his lover’s lap before pulling out a small notebook from the pocket of his shirt. Sougo chuckles softly at the display, asking, “One last rehearsal of your poem for tomorrow?”

“To be perfectly honest, I’d rather think of anything but that,” he replies, thumbing open the notebook to the most recently used page. “I do have a few new pieces I’d like for you to hear, though.”

“I could ask for nothing more.” 

Ryuu nods before turning his attention to the words. He lets the cadence of his speech rise and fall as he describes the waves, a stray breeze that sweeps across the ocean to the shore and greets fishermen rowing their morning’s work back home. When he is finished he brings the book down to his chest. He glances up to see Sougo’s eyes have closed, and for a moment Ryuu wonders if the poem had bored him to sleep until his eyelids flutter open, revealing soft violet. The younger man begins to card his fingers through Ryuu's hair, soft and free of the heavy products that it was often styled with, and Ryuu finds himself humming appreciatively. 

“Your poetry speaks of the ocean quite often, Ryuudre.”

“Ah ah ah, remember. It’s just Ryuu when we are alone, yes?”

“...very well, Ryuud--Ryuu.” 

Ryuu smiles in satisfaction at the drop of formalities, and meditates on Sougo’s comment. It was true, though he had undoubtedly written a fair body of work about other topics, much of it was filled with nostalgic imagery of the kingdom’s coast. It was something that Tennard and Gakufonse, as his fellow poets, have gently teased him for in the past. “When I was first brought to the castle, I was desperately homesick. Writing about the ocean helped.” 

“What was it like, living on the coast?”

A simple enough question, but it gives him pause. He studies his hands, and recalls the way his palms had gradually grown soft and uncalloused over time--hardly suitable anymore for the rougher lifestyle he’d led as a child. 

“You may remember that Lord Tsunashi is not my father by blood. I'm the son of a fisherman whose wife left him for a nobleman’s riches. She only returned for me because they’d struggled to conceive an heir. I volunteered to go; my brothers were still very young and I didn't want them to be separated from father like that." Despite the years that had passed since, he still feels his fingers tighten around his notebook at the memory, and he smiles ruefully. "Little did I know what was in store for me as the pawn of a nobleman."

For a man who was known as one of the nation's best writers, Ryuu finds himself struggling to continue piecing together the story of his past prior to entering the castle's pristine white walls. Sougo says nothing, but seeks out one of his hands and tangles them in his own. It’s reassuring, the unspoken ‘I’m here for you’ in the gesture, and Ryuu continues.

“Luckily I was selected to be a king's ward not long after that, and came here. And before that, I loved living with my father and brothers. It was hard work, yes, but my father was able to raise my younger brothers and I without any trouble beyond whatever mischief we brought upon ourselves. The rest of our townsfolk helped out, too. And, when I was old enough to tie sailing knots, I started joining the men on their fishing expeditions.” He closes his eyes, recalling the sights and sounds of his first trip. “It took some time before I was used to waking up so early, but there’s truly no other experience like it. The smell of the salt in the air. The thrum of anticipation among the men with each heave of the rope, pulling the nets heavy with their catch. The way the light danced as sunrise broke over the waves...”

“It sounds beautiful,” says Sougo.

“Perhaps,” Ryuu pauses, hesitant. He pulls their linked hands to his chest, where he’s sure that Sougo can feel the way his heartbeat quickens. “Perhaps, I could take you there someday?”

He watches with bemusement as a flush, red as the roses in the royal garden, creeps up the younger boy’s neck before it spreads over his cheeks. Ryuu can see one thousand words at the tip of his lover’s tongue. There are one thousand reasons why he will say that they cannot, even as it is clear that another part of him would want nothing more than for the two of them to steal away into the night this instant, the kingship be damned. 

“We. B-but after tomorrow--”

“Sougo.” 

Ryuu sits up, taking advantage of the younger man’s surprise at the use of his true name to draw his hand against lips, pressing chaste kisses to his knuckles. The flicker of shock passes over Sougo’s face before it falls into a pout. His full body blush has only deepened in color. Ryuu chuckles and gathers the smaller man into his arms, fit to bursting with affection as Sougo wraps his arms around him in return. “I’m glad that you’ve learned to call me Ryuu. Yet, even after all these years you still become as skittish as a newborn colt when I return the favor.”

“That’s unfair, Ryuudr--Ryuu. You know that it’s impossible to say no when you do that,” mumbles Sougo sulkily into his chest.

“I do, since it works so well. Sougo,” he says. “Regardless of what happens tomorrow and regardless of who is selected as king; if it is you, me, any of the others, it doesn’t matter. Know that my heart will always belong to you, that I will never leave you unless you wish it so.”

“That’s a heavy weight to carry, a heart so large as yours.” Sougo sighs softly and clings tighter to the fabric of Ryuu’s nightshirt. “It’s getting late, we should go to bed.”

“Sougo…” 

What protests Ryuu might have said are silenced by a finger to his lips, then the sweetness of Sougo’s lips on his for the briefest moment. The younger man takes his weight off of Ryuu and rises from the couch, fidgeting with his slightly disheveled nightclothes. Ryuu rises as well, and they silently take leaden steps to the door. 

Once they exit, they would once again be ‘sons’ of the king, Soudre and Ryuudre. At least, until the results of the Garden Tea Party--and thus the kingship--were determined. Sougo, his hand on the doorknob, looks up at Ryuu once more. He brings his other hand up to cup Ryuu’s cheek, thumb brushing along his jaw. Ryuu feels himself lean in the touch on instinct.

“Do you remember the day that you met me?” asks Sougo.

“Like it was yesterday,” he replies. “I thought you were adorable. You were so small but you seemed so serious!”

“That’s because fathe--Lord Osaka was watching. I was raised to maintain proper conduct in the presence of the king.”

Ryuu thinks back to the day Lord Osaka brought Sougo to the castle, and remembers hiding behind a tutor’s voluminous skirts while peering at the latest candidate. When they’d made eye contact, Ryuu had waved at him and for the briefest moment the younger boy’s expression had flickered to one of curiosity before Lord Osaka had sternly squeezed his shoulder, drawing his attention back to the king. His mind is drawn back to the present when he feels Sougo shift away.

“I-I was glad that we were able to find one another, and I hope you realize that you have always had my heart, Ryuu,” says Sougo, slipping out into the hallway before Ryuu can react. Such was the smooth, swift grace befitting a dancer of his calibre. Ryuu grins to himself, bringing a hand to his cheek as if he could continue to hold on to the warmth of his lover’s palm for just a second longer.

 

That night, as with many nights, he dreams of the sea. But this time, Sougo is standing beside him on the shore, their hands intertwined as they look out at the azure blue waters spreading into the infinite horizon.


End file.
